Palestinians on Saturday called for the formation of an international commission to investigate massacres committed by Zionist militias in the Palestinian village of Tantura in 1948.
The investigation was called for following revelations by Israeli outlet Haaretz that a mass grave had been discovered at Dor Beach, where Tantura once stood before it was destroyed.
The Zionist militas are thought to have committed the massacre during the 1948 Nakba; a time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were violently expelled from their lands by the militias in the run-up to the creation of Israel
“The crimes of the occupation did not stop at the year 1948, but are still continuing in a racist and hateful manner, which calls for the opening of investigations into these crimes,” a statement by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.
“What is required is a broad international campaign to bring justice to the Palestinian victims and to punish Israeli officials and the official Israeli institution that continues to conceal and cover up the ugliness of these crimes and massacres,” the statement added.
The revelations about the massacre at Tantura came to light when veterans of the event, who are now in their nineties, came clean about their crimes and admitted that the massacre did in fact occur.
Previously, those who participated had denied that the horrific killings had taken place, and even went as far as to take legal action against their accusers
Today, the site of the massacre, and the mass grave that was dug for the victims, is now a popular beach. It is believed that at least 200 Palestinians were buried their after being killed.
A documentary titled ‘Tantura’, which features testimonies from former soldiers, by filmmaker Alon Schwarz is set to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival, and follows the story of Teddy Katz, who in the 1990’s researched the massacre as part of a master's degree thesis.
At the time of his thesis, Katz was forced with threats of legal action to withdraw his claims about the massacre, by Israeli military veterans.